Some councillors have slated the plans
A council has avoided having to meet new housebuilding targets thanks to delays in its Local Plan. Tunbridge Wells Borough Council (TWBC) approved the document this week, which governs development in the west Kent area until 2038, and has allocated 4,500 homes in the district.
Late last year, the Labour government announced increased targets for every council in the country as part of their plan to build 1.5 million homes before the next general election. The new targets are mandatory and, if councils fail to hit them, they can be penalised by being put into a “state of presumption in favour of development”.
Effectively, this means councils lose many of their reasons to refuse developments, and make developers much more likely to apply for permission opportunistically or get refusals overturned on an appeal. The authority has been working on the plan, meant to cover the period from 2020-2038, since 2019.
Under the new rules, Tunbridge Wells council’s yearly housing target increased by 66 per cent, from 678 homes a year up to 1,098. However, since the council started work on the plan long before the new targets, it is only subject to the lower requirement.
“The Local Plan examination has been a long and complex process, with additional evidence needed at certain points as well as additional hearing sessions,” a TWBC spokesperson explained. “This included detailed work that needed to be undertaken by the council in order to fully and robustly consider and respond to the Inspector’s initial findings, which took around a year to respond to.”
Homes which have already been built or given planning permission have been factored in, so the council has had to propose sites for about 4,500 homes until the end of the plan period. Originally, a whole new village of 2,800 homes on green belt land at Tudeley, and 3,500 at east Capel were part of the local plan.
However, after the government inspector raised “strategic issues” with these sites, Tudeley was entirely removed, and the allocation at East Capel was downsized. At the meeting of the full council this week, the council voted to approve the Local Plan, and the housing target was a factor in the discussions.
Some councillors slated the plans, with Cllr Thomas Mobbs (Con) describing it as “Tunbridge Wells town versus everyone else” – citing the Liberal Democrat leadership’s seats being largely in the town. “What is being proposed tonight is nothing short of a disaster for Paddock Wood and the neighbouring rural communities,” he added.
He argued that the plan should be voted down, but noted that since it would result in increased housing targets “we’re damned if we do, damned if we don’t.” Cllr Lynne Darrah (Con) argued: “A lot of what is in the plan is going to be detrimental to rural areas, but I understand that we need a plan and I think it’s important that we have our housing figures fixed, not increased.”
Cllr Matt Lowe, the cabinet member for planning, said: “We can’t take the bits we like and reject the rest. It’s all or nothing and we now must either adopt it as it is or reject it.
“If the plan is rejected, we will be back to square one, starting work on a new plan from scratch, with years of work and large sums of money wasted.” Cllr Hugo Pound (Lab), who also once served as cabinet member for planning, added: “Rejecting it would be an absolute disaster for all the reasons that Cllr Lowe has said – we’d go right back to square one.
“To vote it down this evening or say no does your community a disservice.” The plan was passed with 27 votes in favour, four against and four abstentions.
